Juan Pascual Pringles

Who was Juan Pascual Pringles?

Juan Pascual Pringles was a distinguished military leader in the Spanish American wars of independence, with the rank of colonel, and later a leader of the Argentine Unitarian Party.

Pringles was born in San Luis, Argentina on May 17, 1795. From 1811 until 1814 he worked in Mendoza before joining a militia in 1815. In 1820 he joined the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers and departed for Peru as part of an expeditionary force of liberators and on arrival fought in many major battles, including the Battle of Junín and the Battle of Ayacucho. In 1829 he returned to Buenos Aires, and was soon drawn into the civil wars between the Unitarian Party and the Federalists.

He died in battle at Chañaral de las Ánimas against Facundo Quiroga's forces on March 10, 1831. Rather than surrender his sword to Quiroga's subordinate and not to the general in person, he broke it in half before being shot and killed. Quiroga later reprimanded the soldier who took Pringles' life without consulting him.